swordfish tagging with pop - up satellite tags in the ... - Iccat

SCRS/2007/037 Collect. Vol. Sci. Pap. ICCAT, 62(4): 1052-1057 (2008)SWORDFISH TAGGING WITH POP - UP SATELLITE TAGSIN THE MEDITERRANEAN SEAS. Canese 1 , F. Garibaldi 2 , L. Orsi Relini 2 , S. Greco 1SUMMARYA total of 19 swordfish, ranging in weight from 15 to 45 kg, have been tagged using pop-up satellite tagsbetween June 2003 and November 2006. Twelve swordfish were tagged during the month of June in theMessina Strait/Aeolian Islands area, by means of the traditional local harpoon fishery. Seven specimenswere tagged in the Ligurian Sea by means of surface long-lines during summer and fall. The tags havebeen programmed to detach from the fish after different time intervals, between 12 and 365 days. 13 outof the 19 deployed tags established a connection after being released, even if several premature releases(54%) were recorded. Data analysis shows that swordfish follow a daily behavioral scheme, spendingthe night near the surface and diving during the day at depths that reach up to 650 m. The analysis ofhorizontal movements pointed out how swordfish is able to travel long distances in short periods oftime. The animals tagged in the Messina Strait, during summer traveled away from this area and tagswere released at hundreds of kilometers from the tagging point. The fish tagged in the Ligurian Seashowed minor horizontal movement; they remained within the North Western Mediterranean area untilautumn.RÉSUMÉ19 espadons, pesant de 15 à 45 kg, ont été marqués à l’aide de marques pop-up par satellite entre juin2003 et novembre 2006. Douze espadons ont été marqués en juin dans la zone du Détroit deMessine/des Iles Eoliennes par la pêcherie locale traditionnelle au harpon. 7 spécimens ont été marquésen Mer de Ligure par les palangriers de surface pendant l’été et l’automne. Les marques ont étéprogrammées de telle sorte à se détacher du poisson après différentes périodes, entre 12 et 365 jours.13 des 19 marques déployées ont établi une connexion après leur détachement, même si plusieursdétachements prématurés (54%) ont été enregistrés. L’analyse des données montre que l’espadon suitun schéma comportemental quotidien, restant près de la surface la nuit et plongeant à des profondeurspouvant atteindre jusqu’à 650 m le jour. L’analyse des déplacements horizontaux a montré commentl’espadon peut parcourir de longues distances en très peu de temps. Les spécimens marqués dans leDétroit de Messine pendant l’été se sont éloignés de cette zone et les marques se sont détachées à descentaines de kilomètres du point de marquage. Les poissons marqués en Mer de Ligure ont présenté defaibles déplacements horizontaux et sont restés dans la Méditerranée Nord-Ouest jusqu’en automne.RESUMENEntre junio de 2003 y noviembre de 2006, se marcó con marcas pop-up vía satélite un total de 19 pecesespada, con un peso entre 15 y 45 Kg. Se marcaron doce peces espada durante el mes de junio en elEstrecho de Mesina/islas Eolias, en la pesquería tradicional con arpón local. Durante el verano y elotoño se marcaron siete ejemplares en el mar de Liguria, en la pesquería de palangre de superficie. Seprogramaron las marcas para que se soltaran de los peces tras diferentes intervalos de tiempo, entre 12y 365 días. Trece de las 19 marcas desplegadas establecieron una conexión tras soltarse, aunque seregistraron varias marcas que se soltaron de forma prematura (54%). Los análisis de los datosmuestran que el pez espada sigue un esquema conductual diario; pasa la noche cerca de la superficie yse sumerge durante el día en profundidades de hasta 650 m. El análisis de los movimientos horizontalesindicó que el pez espada es capaz de recorrer largas distancias en cortos periodos de tiempo. Losejemplares marcados en el Estrecho de Mesina durante el verano viajaron lejos de dicha zona y lasmarcas se soltaron a cientos de kilómetros del punto en el que se colocaron. Los ejemplares marcadosen el mar de Liguria mostraban unos movimientos horizontales de menor envergadura, permaneciendoen de la zona del Mediterráneo noroccidental hasta el otoño.KEY WORDSSwordfish, Xiphias gladius, tagging, Mediterranean1052

1. IntroductionSwordfish, Xiphias gladius, represents a worldwide important fishery resource, so that many studies were carriedout in the past about its general biology. In this way in the Mediterranean Sea information regardingreproduction (Cavallaro et al., 1991; Corriero et al., 2004; De La Serna et al., 1996; Orsi Relini et al, 1999,2003), age and growth (Megalofonou and De Metrio, 1989; Rollandi et al., 2005; Tserpes and Tsimenides,1995), food and feeding habits (Orsi Relini et al., 1995; Peristeraki et al., 2005; Salman, 2004) genetic(Alvarado Bremer et al., 2005; Chow et al., 1997; Kotoulas et al., 1995, 1996; Magoulas et al., 1993; Pujolar etal., 2002) and pollutant (Fossi et al., 2001; Stefanelli P. et al., 2004) is extensive, as opposed to the scarcity ofinformation regarding its diving behavior, habitat use and migrations, that are extremely rare at a worldwidelevel (Brill R. and Musyl M., 2003; Carey, 1990; Carey F.G. and Robinson B.H., 1981; Sedberry G.R. andLoefer J.K. 2001; Takahashi et al., 2003) and quite totally missing for the Mediterranean Sea (Canese et al.,2004; Garibaldi et al., 2000). The present research project has been designed and developed in order to collectdata on swordfish diving behavior and migrations through the use of pop-up archival satellite tags.2. Materials and methodsSwordfish were tagged using pop-up satellite tags in the framework of two different research programs, fundedby the Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Agricultural Policies, covering 3 years, from 2003 to 2006.Two different pop-up tags were used: on the first year 4 Microwave Telemetry Ptt 100 tags (12 days in theLigurian Sea, 365 days in the Messina Straits); all other tags were Wildlife Computers PAT4 and MK10 Tags.Tags were secured to the back of the animals, close to the first dorsal fin, using a tether with a Floy Tag andstainless steel darts. Data were transmitted by means of the Argos System.In order to achieve a widespread spatio-temporal distribution of fishes, specimens have been tagged in differentseasons and two different locations:a) Messina Strait / Eolian Islands area, by the means of the traditional harpoon fishery, using as platform a“Feluca” boat. In this area the swordfish fishing season goes from late spring until the end of summer;fish were tagged in June, which represents the peak of swordfish reproductive season.b) Ligurian Sea: fish tagged in this area were caught by professional drifting long lines and, once assessedtheir good general conditions, tagged and released.The fishing season in this area goes from late spring until the end of November: fish were tagged in summer andfall.3. ResultsFrom 2003 to 2006 a total of 19 swordfish, weighing between 15 and 45 kg, were tagged. The animals have beenmonitored for a period comprised between 4 and 120 days, and 13 out of 19 of the tags have established aconnection after being released, so far we are waiting to receive data from one other tag that, that at the momentis still deployed. In the course of the study we have had several premature releases (54%) the causes of which aredifficult to determine with certainty (De Metrio et al. 2001).Several of them can nevertheless be ascribed to the difficulty of tagging live animals, fact that doesn’t allow theoptimal application of the tag. Only two animals died shortly after tagging operation and both of them werecaught with longline. One specimen was caught only six days after being tagged but the satellite tag wasretrieved allowing us to download the entire set of data.3.1 Surface movement analysisThe swordfish we tagged have shown the ability of this species to travel long distances in short periods of time.The animals tagged in the Strait of Messina/Aeolian Islands during summer traveled away from this area and thetags were released at hundreds of kilometers from the tagging point. (Figure 1)1053

One specimen, after only 6 days after being tagged, was captured by a fishing vessel near Marina di Camerotawhich is about 200 km from tagging point. Other two animals reached respectively the Ligurian Sea in 60 daysand the Sardinian Sea in 44 days.By dividing the distance traveled by the number of days, and assuming that the distance between tagging pointand release point was covered linearly, we have an estimate of the speed at which the animals travel. As a resultof this analysis we obtain very variable speeds depending on the different animals, with an average of 14 km/day(SD 13,3) and a range of 3-43 km/day.The fish tagged in the Ligurian Sea show a lower average speed respect to the ones tagged in MessinaStrait/Aeolian Islands: 6 km/day against 23 km/day. The difference in speed between the two areas is statisticallysignificant (t-Student Test, f(7) = 2,36 p

5. ReferencesBLOCK, B.A. 2002. Tagging of Pacific Pelagics TOPP fish shark and squid workshop report.ALVARADO BREMER, J.R., J. Mejuto, B. Ely and T.W. Greig. 2005. Population structure of the swordfish(Xiphias gladius L.) as revealed by analysis of the mitochondrial DNA control region. In: J. Exp. Mar.Biol. Ecol. 197: 295-310.BRILL, R. and M. Musyl. 2003. Use of pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs) to determine the movements andpost release survivability of swordfish, marlins, sharks, and tunas in the central Nort Pacific Ocean.Abstract Tuna Conference.CANESE, S., F. Garibaldi, M. Giusti, T. Romeo and S. Greco. 2004. First successful attempt of swordfishtagging with popup tags in the Mediterranean Sea. 39th European Marine Biology Symposium - Genoa,21-24 July 2004.CAREY, F.G. and B.H. Robinson. 1981. Daily patterns in the activities of sworfish, Xiphias gladius, observedby acoustic telemetry. Fish.Bull., 79(2), 277-92.CAREY, F. G. 1990. Further acoustic telemetry observation of swordfish. In ‘Planning the Future of Billfishes,Research and Management in the 90s and Beyond. Proceedings of the Second International BillfishSymposium. Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, August 1–5, 1988’. Part 2: Contributed Papers. (Ed. R. H. Stroud.) pp.103–22. (National Coalition For Marine Conservation: Savannah, GA.).CAVALLARO, G., A. Potoschi and A. Cefali. 1991. Fertility, gonado-somatic index and catches of eggs andlarvae of Xiphias gladius L. 1758 in the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea. Colllect. Vol. Sci. Pap. ICCAT, 35(2):502- 507.CORRIERO, A., F. Acone, S. Desantis, D. Zubani, M. Deflorio, G. Venriglia, C.R. Bridges, M. Labate, G.Palmieri, B.G. McAllister, D.E. Kime and G. De Metrio. 2004. Histological and immunohistochemicalinvestigation on ovarian development and plasma estradiol levels in the swordfish (Xiphias gladius L.).Eur. J. Histochem, 48 (4): 413-422.DE LA SERNA, J.M., J.M. Ortiz de Urbina and D. Macias. 1996. Observations on sex ratio, maturity andfecundity by length-class for swordfish (Xiphias gladius) captured with surface longline in the westernMediterranean. Collect. Vol. Sci. Pap. ICCAT, 45(1): 115-139.DE METRIO, G., G.P. Arnold, J.M. De la Serna, C. Yannopoulos, P. Megalofonou, A.A. Buckley and M.Pappalepore. 2001. Further results of tagging mediterranean bluefin tuna with pop-up satellite-detectedtags. Collect. Vol. Sci. Pap. ICCAT. 52(2), 776-83.FOSSI, C., S. Casini, S. Ancora, A. Moscatelli, A. Ausili and G. Notarbartolo di Sciara. 2001. Do endocrinedisrupting chemicals threaten Mediterranean swordfish? Preliminary results of vitellogenin and Zonaradiata proteins in Xiphias gladius. Marine Environ.Res. 52, 477-83.KOTOULAS G., A. Magoulas, N. Tsimenides and E. Zouros. 1995. Marked mitochondrial DNA differencesbetween Mediterranean and Atlantic populations of the swordfish, Xiphias gladius. Molec. Ecol., 4: 473-481.GARIBALDI, F., G. Palandri and L. Orsi Relini. 1999. The first mediterranean recapture, useful for growthstudies, of tagged swordfish. Collect. Vol. Sci. Pap. ICCAT, 49 (1): 151-152.MAGOULAS A., G. Kotoulas, J.M. De La Serna, G. De Metrio, N. Tsimenides, E. Zouros. 1993. Geneticstructure of swordfish (Xiphias gladius) populations of the Mediterranean and the Eastern side of theAtlantic: analysis by mitochondrial DNA markers. Collect. Vol. Sci. Pap. ICCAT, 40(1): 126-136.MEGALOFONOU P. and G. De Metrio. 1989. Stima dell’età e dell’accrescimento di Xiphias gladius L. del MarEgeo mediante lo studio dei raggi spiniformi della pinna anale. Nova Thalassia., 10 suppl 1: 437-436.1055

ORSI RELINI L., G. Palandri, F. Garibaldi. 1993. Notes about the structure of the fished stock of swordfishfrom the Ligurian Sea. Collect. Vol. Sci. Pap. ICCAT, 40(1): 400-403.ORSI RELINI, L., F. Garibaldi, C. Cima, G. Palandri. 1995. Feeding of the swordfish, the bluefin and otherpelagic nekton in the Western Ligurian Sea. Collect. Vol. Sci. Pap. ICCAT, 44(1): 283-286.ORSI RELINI, L., Palandri G., Garibaldi F., Cima C., Relini M., Torchia G. 1999. Biological parameters of theMediterranean swordfish derived from observations in the Ligurian Sea. Collect. Vol. Sci. Pap. ICCAT,49(1): 397-406.ORSI RELINI, L., Palandri G., Garibaldi F. Reproductive parameters of the Mediterranean swordfish. Biol. Mar.Medit., 10 (2): 210-222. 2003PERISTERAKI, P., G. Tserpes, and E. Lefkaditou. 2005. What cephalopod remains from Xiphias gladiusstomach imply about predator-prey interactions in the Mediterranean Sea? J. Fish Biol., 67: 549- 554.POTOSCHI, A., G. Cavallaro, P. Sturiale and G. Lo Duca. 1994. Eggs and larvae of swordfish, tuna andalbacore caught in the Ionian Sea. Biol. Mar. Mediterr. Vol. 1(1): 119-124. 1994.ROLLANDI L., F. Garibaldi, G. Palandri and L. Orsi Relini. 2004. Correlazione tra tasso di crescita ematurazione sessuale nella femmina del pesce spada (Xiphias gladius L.). Biol. Mar. Medit., 11 (2): 174-176.SALMAN, A. 2004. The role of cephalopods in the diet of the swordfish (Xiphias gladius Linnaeus, 1758) in theAegean sea (Eastern Mediterranean). Bull. Mar. Sci., 74 (1): 21-29.SEDBERRY G.R. and J.K. Loefer. 2001. Satellite telemetry tracking of swordfish, Xiphias gladius, off theeastern United States. Marine Biology 139, 355-60.STEFANELLI P., A. Ausili, A. Di Muccio, C. Fossi, S. Di Muccio, S. Rossi and A. Colasanti. 2004.Organochlorine compounds in tissues of swordfish (Xiphias gladius) from Mediterranean Sea and Azoresislands. Marine Pollution Bulletin 49, 938-50.TAKAHASHI M., H. Okamura, K. Yokawa and M. Okazaki. 2003. Swimming behaviour and migration of aswordfish recorded by an archival tag. Marine and Freshwater Research 54, 527-34.TSERPES G. and N. Tsimenides. 1995. Determination of age and growth of swordfish, Xiphias gladius L., 1758,in the Eastern Mediterranean using anal fins spines. Fish. Bull., 93: 594-602.1056

Figure 1: Map showing the movements of tagged fish (tagging position, dots, detachment position, triangle).030/6/03 0.0030/6/03 12.001/7/03 0.001/7/03 12.002/7/03 0.002/7/03 12.003/7/03 0.00-100Depth (meters)-200-300-400-500-600-700Date and timeFigure 2: Typical swordfish diving profile (time: GMT).1057